Annie Dillard

The distinctive cliffs of light-colored sandstone stretch nearly half a mile atop Tinker Mountain at an elevation of 3,000 feet along the Appalachian National Scenic Trail.

The cliffs drop 50 to 60 feet to the sloped mountainside below and offer stellar vistas.

There are other attractive hiking options nearby: McAfee Knob and Dragon's Tooth in the Blue Ridge Mountains of western Virginia. The three sites are together known as Virginia's Triple Crown for hikers. You can hit all three on a 24-mile overnight hike.

But I was headed to Tinker Cliffs on a day hike to see what I could see.

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DALEVILLE, Va. — It is a tough uphill hike to Tinker Cliffs.
The distinctive cliffs of light-colored sandstone stretch nearly half a mile atop Tinker Mountain at an elevation of 3,000 feet along the Appalachian National Scenic Trail.
The cliffs drop...